Completing The Paper Loop

Union Camp Plant Recycles Office Waste

ISLE OF WIGHT — Think about the amount of waste paper you dump into the trash can during a typical working day.

Now, multiply that stack of trash about a million times.

That's roughly the amount of waste paper that Union Camp Corp.'s new fiber recycling plant converts each day into clean pulp for paper making at its nearby mill.

FOR THE RECORD - Published correction ran Tuesday, March 28, 1995.A story in Sunday's Business section incorrectly said that Union Camp owns 1.6 acres of woodlands in six Eastern states. The correct figure is 1.6 million acres.

Camp officials say that some 400 tons of office waste per day - a whopping 150,000 tons a year - will be diverted from East Coast landfills to the $100 million recycling facility that opened this month.

The recycling plant, situated next to the giant paper mills in Isle of Wight County at the Franklin city line, has been in the works for more than five years. Among those attending a lavish dedication ceremony last week were Gov. George Allen and former two-time Governor Mills E. Godwin, who once sat on Union Camp's board of directors.

Allen lauded the Union Camp expansion as an example of the growth and success that can occur in a state that makes economic development a priority.

Union Camp officials say the recycling plant, which created 79 new jobs, is part of the international company's efforts to remain competitive in the 21st century.

W.C. McClelland, chief executive officer of the New Jersey-based company, said the recycling plant ``closes the environmental loop'' in the company's paper production chain.

In fact, evidence of the completed loop showed up several days ago when employees at the recycling plant found a ream wrapper from its recycled paper products among the office waste paper shipped into the plant, said David H. Breed, manager of the new plant.

One of the biggest challenges in planning for the facility was lining up a steady supply of waste paper, said Edward A. Turner, resident manager of the Union Camp operation in Franklin.

``There was no existing infrastructure to harvest the paper and deliver it to Franklin,'' Turner said.

It took months, he said, for Union Camp purchasing teams to establish relationships with more than 47 suppliers in 190 locations from Sarasota, Fla. west to Little Rock, Ark. and north to Green Bay, Wis.

Today, those companies ship some 435 tons per day - equal to about 80 million sheets of 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper - into the new recycling center, Turner said. The paper comes primarily from major cities within a 500-mile radius of Franklin.

Cleaned pulp from the recycling plant - some 300 tons a day - is shipped via a mile-long conveyor belt across the sprawling Union Camp complex to the paper mill where it is converted into a new line of recycled paper products, including Xerographic paper, envelope paper, greeting cards and file folders.

The process of converting the paper into clean, reusable pulp is complex but decipherable as you follow the path of the waste paper through the sparkling new facility that sits to the east of the smoke-spewing paper mills.

The first step involves the random inspection of bales of office waste paper to determine overall quality and to make sure the paper is free from foreign materials. Rejected shipments are returned to the supplier.

Next, the waste paper is mixed with water and reduced to pulp in a giant beater. Ink-removing chemicals are added to the pulp slurry, which then passes through a filtration system that removes large pieces of foreign materials like paper clips, rocks, glass and staples.

Continuing on its path, the slurry passes through a set of screens, which remove very small particles and contaminants like pieces of string, plastic, glue and other sticky materials.

Next, the pulp is pressed to remove much of the water and dissolved inks. It then undergoes a kneading process, causing fibers to rub against each other, loosening ink so that it floats away.

Following a chemical brightening and color removal process, the fibers pass through a very fine screening to remove any remaining glue and other contaminants. Then there's more kneading and washing to float away fine ink particles.

Finally, the cleaned pulp is sent on the winding conveyor belt to the paper mill.

One of the company's priorities in setting up the new facility was to guarantee that paper made from the recycled pulp was indistinguishable from the traditional paper products sold by Union Camp, according to Turner.

``The only way our customers are going to know this is a recycled product is by reading it on the box,'' Turner said.

The recycled products were immediately accepted and demand for them is growing, he said.

``They are being accepted as functionally and aesthetically equal to our non-recycled containing products,'' he said.

A spokeswoman for the American Forest and Paper Association said that the technology at the fiber-recycling plant is so advanced that to conserve energy and resources, the plant uses waste water and heat from manufacturing operations at the paper mill.